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    A conceptual framework for starting the business excellence (BE) journey in New Zealand service organisations : a dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Technology and Management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2005) Innes, Joanna
    The services sector is important to the New Zealand economy in that it currently contributes 68% to the gross national product and has consistently contributed the most to economic growth since 2002 (Statistics New Zealand, 2005). It has been suggested by the Workplace Productivity Group (2004) that much of the growth in the economy has been due to people working longer hours and that attention now needs to be given to improving productivity and organisational performance. In response to the need to improve performance New Zealand service organisations are adopting business excellence (BE) and an associated BE framework, the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence or CPE (NZBEF, 2005) to guide their improvement journey. Anecdotal evidence suggests that once the decision has been made to adopt BE, the next challenge is how to start the improvement journey. BE is an internationally recognised business practice that has evolved from total quality management (TQM) principles and practices. Researchers argue that not all TQM practices are transferable to services (Behara & Gundersen, 2001; Sureshchanda, Rajendran & Anatharaman, 2001) and that not all TQM practices are relevant for the start of the improvement journey (Banerji, Gundersen & Behara, 2005). Although organisations are known to adopt a BE framework to guide the improvement journey, much of the TQM literature to date has focused on the validity of BE frameworks as measurement tools and the organisational results achieved by BE organisations. There has been limited attention given to how organisations start the improvement journey being guided by a BE framework. The aim of this study is: "To develop a conceptual framework that represents how New Zealand service organisations start the BE journey". The term BE journey was defined by the researcher for the study, as "an improvement journey being guided by a BE framework, such as the Criteria for Performance Excellence or CPE (NZBEF, 2005)". An initial conceptual framework was developed through researching the existing relevant literature. This framework was then developed further through obtaining empirical evidence from New Zealand service organisations. The proposed conceptual framework represents the start of the BE journey as an organisational development and change process, with five aligned and integrated elements (1) organisational profile, (2) improvement processes, (3) key practices and people, (4) intermediate outcomes, and (5) organisational results. The study contributes to the existing knowledge base for BE in service organisations, and has the potential to inform BE theory development and to guide BE practice.
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    Development of quality management assessment and improvement tools and techniques appropriate to the tourism industry : a dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Tourism Management, Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2006) Liu, Claire
    The thesis researched the development and implementation of a quality measurement and improvement strategy based on a specified combination of two TQM tools - SERVQUAL and QFD. The strategy was successively trialled and refined in three Rotorua based tourist attractions and centred on the appropriateness or otherwise of applying such quality improvement techniques to the small business sector of the New Zealand tourism industry. The significance of the research is outlined in the introductory chapter and related theoretical perspectives are developed in the literature review. The study researched the following question: How to discover a tool for the measurement and therefore the improvement of the service quality for small to medium sized tour operators? Three case studies were selected to provide the location and data base for the research - one each in the cultural, heritage and environmental segments of the tourism industry. All are well established businesses with good industry and market profiles. The investigations through two complementary case studies have helped to refine the research instrument and supported the implementation of the research methodology in the extensive principal case study. Statistical analyses were employed to compare the reliability of the data from the different surveys and to explain variances in the results. Research findings indicate that with further refinement and modification through ongoing usage, the combination of the two tools would provide the small business operator with a means of linking customer service satisfaction measurement to the underlying operational components of their business. The visitor profiles of the tourist attractions obtained from the surveys can help to explain the reasons for any significant differences in customer expectations in relation to quality service standards. The findings suggest that the combined SERVQUAL and QFD quality management technique should be regularly used by small tourist attractions both as a quality improvement tool to meet customer satisfaction and to assist in the attainment of external quality service recognition.